Birkhill railway station

Birkhill railway station is a railway station on the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway in Scotland, equidistant from Grangemouth, Bo'ness, Linlithgow and Polmont.

Birkhill
Location
PlaceNear Bo'ness
AreaFalkirk (council area)
Coordinates55°59′36″N 3°39′38″W
Grid referenceNS965790
Operations
Managed byScottish Railway Preservation Society
Platforms1
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The adjacent Birkhill Fireclay Mine is in the Bo'ness area and is an integral part of the town's history. Falkirk Council announced in February 2013 that the Fireclay mine would close permanently.

The station was the limit of regular train operations from Bo'ness, however the track continues to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at Manuel Junction and is used for the transfer of rolling stock to/from the National Rail network. The section to Manuel was due to open to regular passenger traffic in 2009, however this did not happen until 2010.

There is a station building. which houses a shop, a cafe, and the access the Birkhill Fireclay Mine. The parts of the building were recovered from Monifieth railway station and were originally rebuilt in 1988 by Central Regional Council as their display at the Glasgow Garden Festival. When this closed the building was relocated to Birkhill.

There was no station here until the Scottish Railway Preservation Society took over the branch line. The summit of the line, located to the south of the station, was regraded and lowered to avoid the new platform being on an excessive gradient, and the station was opened to passengers in 1989.

History

There was no station at Birkhill in its working days but there was a loop, just north of the present station, a water column and a short siding off to the clay mine.

Track layout

The track layout at Birkhill features a simple passing loop with two-lever ground frames at either end to control the points. The single platform was recently extended along with track realignment to accommodate 7-coach trains. The construction of a Caledonian Railway style signal box with as many as 20 levers, a water column for steam locomotives and a second platform has been proposed,[1] however no date has been set for completion.

References
  1. Dalton, Alastair (30 June 2019). "Full steam ahead for Bo'ness & Kinneil heritage rail expansion". The Scotsman.
Preceding station   Heritage railways Following station
Manuel Junction   Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway   Kinneil
  Historical railways  
Manuel   Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway   Kinneil
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